Conductor support



Aug. 24, 1943. T. H. DUNN CONDUCTOR SUPPORT Filed Oct. 30, 1942 Zhwentor THOMAS H. DUNN (Ittorneg Patented Aug. 24, 1943 Thomas Ht'Dunn, St. Louis, Moz, assignor to The Ohio Brass Company i Application; October- 30, 1942, seri'a1 No.. 464,152.

iClaims. 01. 191-43)- 7 invention relates to supports: for trolley conductors and more specifically to supports having a groove: and bendable lips; which can be clinched about the; conductor positioned in the groove 'andenclosing the-conductorto "a greater or less degree.

I have found: from actual: experience that the present clinched support or ears in commercial use do not meet present-day requirements;

Such ears have up to very recently met'all re. quirements as the. current collectors, such: as wheels and shoes had a wide radius groovetocooperate with the trolley conductor and ear.

With the introduction. of the carbon insert as applied to currentcollectorsjl find from actual experience that a very narrow groove is often worn in the carbon insert which is not much wider than the trolley wire. This narrow groovev in th insert, does not properly fit the-trolley support or' ear especially at or adjacent the leaving end offtheearwith the result that. the current collector does not make asmoothpassage from the: leaving 'end of the 'ear onto thegtrolley conductor or wire but tends to jump from the ear ontotherwire. The impact of the shoe upon the wire just. beyond the leaving: end of the ear in time indentsfthe trolley'wire andiweakens it. 1 i

The reascnforthe wear'of a narrow groov in the carboninsert will be evident when one-realizes that onv a 75-foot. span. between supports, the moving: insert contacts the. trolley wirefor about 98;'75'% of itstravel and about 1.25% ontheear. Therefore the width of the groove will be: influenced much moreby the diameter-of the wire than by thezsomewhat wider ear;

I have: therefore so designeda trolley ear of the clinch. type for'use on round wire that. the passage of thecurrent collectorfrem the ear onto the trolley wire is: free or. substantially free from theafores'aidjump.

My invention. resides in the new and useful arrangement of the various parts of .the device especially asto the shape" and formation of the lips in accordance with the. description hereinafter made and disclosures in" the drawing accompanyingthi's specification:

In the drawing: i

Fig. 1 isa side viewcin elevation of my invention;

Fig. 2: is. abottom. plan'view ofimy" invention shown iniFig. l. J 1 h Fig. 3 tea bottom view showing: the lips ofthe ear clinchedonto around trolley wire; 1 r Fig. 4 is. a sectionaL View on the line 4.-4 in 1; i 1;

.Fig. 5 is a-sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3. I

Figs. 6, 7,, 3 and 9 are: enlarged sections taken on the corresponding lines of Fig. 3.

,Fig. 10 is an enlarged section of the trolley car taken on the line 9-9-0f1Fig. Scornbined witha carbon insert and holder in whichhas. been worn a narrow groove by the trolley wireand shows'the fit between the. insert and theear on the line-9--9 Of 3.. V r

In the preferred embodiment of my invention l provide a bodymember comprising a threaded boss I- arrangedv to be attached toa support Projecting laterally in opposite directions from each side of the boss I are aligned ribs 2.

Secured'to the lower portion of the boss and the ribs is apair of spaced depending lips 3forming a groove. 4- which iso-f uniform width. and the big-htor curved section of the wall. 5. forming the groove is longitudinally straight.

The. depth oftherlips to theright of the center of the' boss differs from the depth thereof to. the left of-' the boss'and this afiectsthe depth of. the groove as-later explained. a g

The thickness of the lips 3 also varies at dif-, ferentv points alongothe ear and" this afiects the widthrof the lower or running portion of the ear.

The. difference in' the formation of thelips on the two longitudinal halves of the ear, A and-L, formsanirnportant-part of my invention It is not necessary that the formation of the lips be the same onthe approach side A ofthe car as on the leaving: side L. Th lips on. the side. A betweent the-lines 55 and 66 are. of

1.- uniform thicknessand. depth, and are here a maximum. The lips t whenclinched, substantially enclose the wire 6 as shown in Figs..5 andfi. This;v securely attaches the ear. tofthe wire 5 In order to permit a reasonably smooth passage of-the-shoe:fromithewire 6 onto the ear, the lipsfl between the 1ines 56- and 8-3 on the approach end of the eara'reuniformly tapered both as to thickness and depth. The taper withsrerspect tothe thickness of the lips is shown in i Fig. '2 and.- the depth is shown bythe'amount'of encirclement of the'wire' and also in'Figs. 7 and 8. The thickness. of the lips begins to taper at the line. 66 where the thickness is a maximum.

The point 6'6' where the full thickness of' the lips stops and the taper begins is shown as about /3 the length of A from-the end of the ear. but th s may bevaried. However it. is well to keep this point well toward the end of the ear in order to allow as much length of maximum thickness: of

the lips as possible to hold the ear securely to the 7 The effect of tapering the lips both as to depth and thickness in the portion A of the ear is shown in Figs. 6, '7 and 8. The thickness is shown as a maximum in Fig. 6 and the lips substantially encircling the wire while in Fig. 7 the width b of the lip portion of the ear is somewhat less than a of Fig. 6 and the width c in Fig. 8 is still less than that of b in Fig. '7.

groove of the insert shown in Fig. 10 and it will be seen that the insert rides only on the lower or running surface of the wire and does not contact the ear, therefore the passage of the insert in leaving the ear is smooth and without jar.

It will be apparent that the disclosure I have made will result in an ear which, to give the best results intended, must be installed in a definite manner on-the trolley wire with reference to the direction of travel of the current collector, that is the portion A is the entering end and the I portion L the leaving end of the current collector The taper of the lips in depth is shown by comparing the same with the line x-y in Fig. 1

and which line is parallel to the bight 5 of thegroove and the effect of such taper is shown by the width of the unenclosed portions e and g of the trolley wire; see Figs. 7 and 8 respectively.

The portion L which is the leaving portion of the ear has its lips formed differently from those of portion A in that the lips taper indepth and thickness from the center line 4-4 or substantially so to the end of the ear.

These tapers are shown by reference to the left-hand end L of Fig. 1 when the lower edge of the lips is compared with the line .r-y previously referred to, and also by comparing the outer face of the lip of portion L of the ear with the line 2 extending to the line 4-4 and which line is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the groove 4.

These tapers of the ear and lips of the portion L produce a condition when the ear is applied to the wire such that the shoe will ride from the ear onto the trolley wire smoothly and without injury to the trolley Wire.

The reason for this is that the length of the shoe insert is somewhat less than the length 9-9 to ll-ll and practically contacts for its full length with the lower or running surface of the trolley wire before it leaves the portion L of the ear and therefore the shoe passes smoothly from the ear portion L onto the trolley wire.

The'line 9-9 is substantially midway between the line 5-5 and the end of the ear, and the exposed portion of the running surface of the trolley wire is shown by h in Fig. 9 which is about the same as c in Fig. -'7, the latter being relatively close to the adjacent end of the ear. Also the width d of the ear at- 9-9 is substantionally the same as that of a at'l-l as will be seen by comparing 1) and d in Figs. 7 and 9 respectively.

From this it will be evident that conditions at 1-1 which is close to the end of the ear of portion A finds their substantial equivalent at 9-9 of the portion L which is positioned about twice the distance back from the adjacent end of the ear.

In Fig. 10 is shown the fit between a shoe with a groove worn just large enough to take the ear at the line 9-9 and it will be apparent that if the ear is not narrowed that it will not fit the groove in the insert between the lines 5-5 and 6-6 as the width of the ear in that length is represented by a in Fig. 10 and as also shown by a in Fig. 6. i

The width of the ear when clinched on a trolley wire is the same on the line ll-H as on the line 8-8;

In Fig. 8 I have shown by dotted line the and for that reason means should beprovided to clearly indicate the direction of installation and such means may be an arrow as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be apparent to those skilled in.the art, that the values a to h inclusive will vary with the length of the ear and with the size of the trolley wire on which the ear is to be used, but the general principle of construction disclosed herein will apply to such variations in length and size of conductor. The thickness of the lips between 5-5 and 6-6 need not be over inch, in fact they are made as thin as possible consistent with requirements of wear and support of the wire.

I find the best results in operation of the shoe from the ear onto the trolley wire are secured if the length of the portion L is not much under member provided with depending lips forming a groove of uniform width to receive a trolley wire and adapted to be bent about a trolley wire, the

support member being positioned at the center I of the longitudinal member, the lips extending away from opposite sides of the support member being of different formation, the lips forming a portion of the longitudinal member on one side of the support member and extending from the suport member to a point adjacent the end of the ear being of uniform and maximum thickness and adapted to encircle the trolley wire with their edges substantially meeting, the edges of the balance of the lips of said portion-to the end of the ear when the lips are bent upon the wire gradually diverging with the maximum spacing between the edges of the lips being at the end of the ear, the lips on the other portion of the longitudinal member extending from substantially the support member'to the end of the ear gradually diverging with the maximum spacing between the edges of the lips being at the end of the ear. i

2. A conductor support or ear comprising in combination, a'supporting member and a longi tudinal member forming a unit, the longitudinal member provided with depending bendable spaced lips forming a groove of uniform width for a trolley wire. the longitudinal member having three portions, one portion being longer than either of the other two portions and extending from one end of the ear, the second portion ex-v tending from the inner end of the first portion to a point not less than a fourth the length of the longitudinal member, and the third portion extending from the other end of the longitudinal member to the adjacent end of the second portion, the lips of the first portion increasing uniformly both as to thickness and depth from a minimum at the said one end of the ear to an end of the second portion whereby the exposure of the trolley wire will increase uniformly from the second. portion to the' said one end, the second portion having lips of maximum uniform thickness and depth throughout the length of the portion and their edges substantially meeting when the lips are bent about the trolley wire, the lips of the third portion tapering uniformly both as to thickness and depth from the second portion to a minimum at the end of the ear, the support member being located at the meeting point of the first and second sections. 7

3. A conductor support or car comprising in combination, a supporting member and a longitudinal member forming a unit, the longitudinal member provided with lips forming a groove of uniform width to receive a trolley wire to guide a moving current collector, the lips being bendable onto the wire, the longitudinal member having two portions with the supporting member located in vertical alignment with th union of the two portions, the lips of one portion being of maximum thickness and depth for not less than half the length of the portion and then tapering to a minimum at the end of the-ear whereby a current collector approaching the ear will ride onto the ear and any rebound of the current collector will be taken up by the. lips having the maximum thickness and depth and the trolley wire protected from said rebound, the other.

said portion, whereby when the lips are bent onto the wire the current collector will contact and ride on the running surface of the wire a suflicient distance from the end of the ear so that the collector will pass onto the wire beyond the ear smoothly and without rebound to injure the wire and means associated with the ear to indicate the direction of installation of the ear upon the wire with reference to the direction of travel of the current collector.

4. A conductor support or ear comprising in combination, an elongated member forming a unit, the elongated member provided with spaced depending lips forming a groove for a trolley wire, the lips being bendable onto the wire, the lips of the elongated member varying in construction in that the lips for a portion of the elongated member not less than one-half the length of the elongated member measured from one end of the ear taper in thickness'and in depth whereby the edges of the lips are gradually spaced apart with the maximum spacing at the end of the ear whereby the running surface of the trolley wire will be exposed to a maximum degree at the end of the ear such that a. current collector will engage the exposed portion of the trolley wire and ride smoothly from the leaving end of the ear onto the adjacent trolley wire, the lips for the balance of the elongated member being tapered in depth and thicknes for a portion of their length and being of uniform and maximum depth and thickness for the balance of their length, the last said lips being of sulficient thickness and encirclement of the wire to protect the wire from the rebound of a current collector passing from the trolley wire onto the ear and a support member located at the inner end of the lips of the first said position of the elongated member.

THOMAS H. DUNN. 

